Craftsvilla allocates Rs 65 crore for customer experience enhancement

Craftsvilla.com, an online marketplace for ethnic products, has set aside a little over a quarter from its latest round of funding to acquire technology startups that will complement its business and enhance customer experience. The company has set aside a fund of about Rs 65 crore to fund acquisitions following an investment round of Rs 221 crore last week.

"We are looking at technologies in the data science spaces, and mobile technology," said Manoj Gupta, co-founder of Craftsvilla who aims to announce at least two acquisitions this quarter from the five companies with which talks are underway. The company plans to also diversify into categories like yoga, herbal and ayurvedic products and tribal handicrafts, and aims to also acquire startups with such product lines.

"We are in talks with startups in (Malaysia and Indonesia) to help us with expansion," added Gupta, who added that the ticket sizes for acquisitions would be between $1 to 2 million.